Elvira

As a matter of interest: is your daughter a USC or PR?

janj

She's a PR.

Thydney

D'oh

snowbunny

Yes, if you opt to release your PSAT/SAT scores to colleges, and those scores good, they are likely to recruit you. What I found was that it was mostly private schools that offered the 50% discounts.... which was great, but the tuition was still frightening even at 50% of the cost!

Still, I wish I'd gone on the free visits to some of them over the summer. Can't beat a free place to stay, meals, etc so long as getting to the college isn't cost prohibitive. I was told from birth I was going to UT and for some reason I didn't rebel and just went with the flow. I wish now I'd at least looked into other schools.

TouristTrap

Interesting. I was speaking to a friend this weekend (picking his brain as to best way to go about getting my kid in), and he was telling me that many inter. students in his elec. eng. classes were there on full scholarships (he said mostly asian kids).

snowbunny

Graduate school? Definitely. Undergrads? Some governments will pay the tab if the student returns home.

I'd like to know how an undergrad international student gets a merit scholarship in the first year. Past that, yes, their GPAs allow them to compete for merit scholarships -- as I said earlier, I've never seen an exclusion of non-USCs from merit scholarships, only from federal grants.

Drebin

It's an exchange dealey. We give them I guess subsidised admittance to our Universities, and in return we get the same. Only between linked exchange Uni's mind though.

In fact come to think of it, when I studied abroad for a year during my degree it was actually cheaper that year. I paid half tuition fees (~£500) for the year I was on exchange, rather than the usual grand for my other two years in the UK. My only other out of pocket expenses were the flights (though even these are means tested and if your household income is low, these can be subsidised too), and accomodation. Accomodation-wise too, I could choose to live oncampus, or off. I chose a shared place off, simply because it worked out much cheaper.

Well kept secret or something I suppose. Financially it doesn't work out that much different to spending a year at the UK Uni, but admittedly when you're in foreign climbs you're more likely to want to splash out on touristy stuff.

There is entry requirements though, my Uni wanted at least 65% average grades in the first year to qualify. My Dest uni wasn't Ivy League or anything, so I guess things are somewhat loftier for those.

TouristTrap

He was talking undergrads. And they were offered full scholarships here.

I'm guessing it being engineering, they were amongst the cream of the crop in their respective countries?

A South African friend of mine was offered a full scholarship by a private university to study here, based on his off-the-charts ACT scores (some college in TN).

snowbunny

Private university being the operative word.

There are some public universities who will reward pre-uni achievements in hopes that having a wunderkind student body will attract other talented students (who can pay) and professors (who can bring in research monies and use said wunderkinds to do a lot of the work, even as undergrads).

But in general, talent of that level that's recognised before uni is rare. Many colleges & unis recognise National Merit Scholars. Perhaps there are programmes in other countries that similarly identify very promising future students.

Still, someone pays the bill for those students whether they are international or not, which means that those who do not get scholarships pay more, unless some private donor endows a scholarship.

Elvira

The problem, though, it's not just a matter of 'releasing' the scores: you only get 4 for free - the rest you have to pay for.

So it you sit the SAT1 twice plus, say, 4 subject SATs plus 5 APs (which seems to be the minimum that many colleges require), that's going to cost you around $99 for EACH additional college you apply for. Plus the application fee, of course - that's another $50-60 bucks please.

So, assuming someone who applies to 4 public colleges and 4 private ones will shell out a total of circa $800 JUST for the applications - not counting any costs for going to visit them prior to applying.

janj

Right - on top of anything you might have paid out to the Kaplan family or any other test prep agency to prepare you for the tests It's a bottomless pit.

snowbunny

You have a valid point about releasing scores to universities.

However, the PSAT is the starting point for National Merit, and if you pay the fee to sit the exam, the score automatically goes to the National Merit committee:

http://www.nationalmerit.org/entering.php

If you qualify, you are sent a letter asking for your top two college preferences. Your PSAT scores are then forwarded (for free) to them.

To make finalist status, yes, you must pay a fee to release your SAT results to NMSC (code 0085) but by that point you are relatively assured of some sort of scholarship so it's well worth it.

One hitch in this programme -- you must be a USC or PR.

One thing I do like about this programme is that minorities have a separate category in which they can compete, thus adding back a bit of what was taken away when affirmative action was struck down.

snowbunny

I did no prep, my grades sucked and I got stoned the night before the SAT. Well, four hours before the test. That tells you about the mindset of some teenagers.

(I did qualify for NMS.)

Elvira

OUTCH!!! This is a very sore point with me!

One of my little darlings had a score which would have qualified him - but of course we are still waiting for those %@#*&#! green cards...

# 1 son also lost out on a 'President's merit award' (or some such - whatever, it would have been $1000!!) because he was neither a USC or PR...

Elvira

OMG tell me about it! One of mine sat his SAT without any preparation whatsoever. Even though he is exceptionally bright (> 99th percentile), he got a mediocre score. He is resitting it next month but still has barely looked at the study book.

Horses, water, lead...

Anyway, this thread has taken an interesting turn. And I still don't know what visa Fergie might be on